Iwaki FC

Iwaki FC (いわきFC, Iwaki Efushi) is a football (soccer) club based in Iwaki, a city in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. The club competes in the J2 League, the second tier of Japanese football league system.

Iwaki FC
いわきFC

Full name	Iwaki FC
Founded	2012; 13 years ago (2012)
Ground	Hawaiians Stadium Iwaki Iwaki, Fukushima
Capacity	5,600
Chairman	Satoshi Okura
Manager	Yuzo Tamura
League	J2 League
2024	J2 League, 9th of 20
Website	iwakifc.com
Home colours Away colours
Current season

History

Founder Club

Iwaki FC was founded in 2012, before getting official recognition in 2013 with the creation of their homonymous corporation.^[1][2] The club name got more attention when Under Armour decided to support the club in climbing the Japanese football pyramid from the bottom.^[3] The vision behind the club’s formation, was an intention of "making Iwaki the central football-city in Tohoku".^[4] In service of this, a new training field opened in November 2016 and the club-house was just launched in May 2017: two central structures necessary to rise to the top of Japanese football.^[5][6]

Fukushima Prefectural Football League (2013–2017)

Results during this period supported Iwaki FC’s rise, as they won several lesser league titles in the Fukushima Prefectural Football Leagues, eventually joining the first division of the Fukushima Prefectural Leagues. Their next target was the Tohoku Soccer League. Meanwhile, the club achieved their first win at the 23rd National Club Team Football Championship Tournament (winning the final 9–0).^[7] Iwaki FC also debuted at Emperor's Cup in 2017 edition. After defeating Norbritz Hokkaido in the first round, they surprisingly overcame Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo for 5–2 after extra-time.^[8] They lost against Shimizu S-Pulse in the third round, but it was still a surprising run.

Tohoku Soccer League (2018–2019)

First advancing to the Tohoku Soccer League in 2018, Iwaki FC earned promotion to the following year's JFL for the first time in history in 2019, after two seasons in the Tohoku Soccer League competition. The club won the All Japan Regional Promotion Series and as a result Iwaki was crowned champions.

Japan Football League (JFL) (2020–2021)

Joining the Japan Football League for the 2020 season, in the 2021 season, Iwaki FC finished in first position in the JFL competition, earned promotion to the following year's J3 League after two seasons in JFL competition. The team were crowned champions for their first title in the fourth tier in Japan Football League.

J. League (2022–)

In the 2022 season, their first year in the J3 League, Iwaki FC received a J2 license on 28 October 2022, and become eligible for promotion.^[9] On 6 November the same year, they were crowned J3 League champions, earning promotion to the following year's J2 League. They secured the league title in the 32nd round, following a 3–0 win against Kagoshima United and defeats for the 2nd and 3rd-placed teams in that round: Fujieda MYFC and Matsumoto Yamaga. 14 days later, Iwaki FC finished as league champions, ending their 2022 season with 78 points from 34 matches, 11 points clear of 2nd-placed Fujieda MYFC, who also ended up being promoted to the J2. On 26 September 2023, Iwaki FC was declared to have met the requirements to obtain a license up to J1 League level.^[10]

Stadium

Iwaki FC played at J-Village Stadium in Hirono during the 2022 J3 season. However, following their promotion to the J2 League, they now use Hawaiians Stadium Iwaki, located in Iwaki.

League and cup record

Champions

Runners-up

Third place

Promoted

Relegated

League													J. League Cup	Emperor's Cup	Shakaijin Cup
Season	Division	Tier	Teams	Pos.	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
2013	Fukushima Prefectural Football League (Div. 3 West)[11][12]	8	6	2nd	10	5	3	2	30	13	17	18	Not eligible
2014		9	5	3rd	8	3	1	4	17	15	2	10
2015	Fukushima Prefectural Football League (Div. 3 East)[13]		6	1st	10	10	0	0	41	9	32	30
2016	Fukushima Prefectural Football League (Div. 2)[14]	8	6	1st	10	10	0	0	93	1	92	30		Did not qualify	Quarter final
2017	Fukushima Prefectural Football League (Div. 1)[15]	7	6	1st	10	10	0	0	93	0	93	30		3rd round	2nd round
2018	Tohoku Soccer League (Div. 2 South)	6	10	1st	18	18	0	0	139	12	127	54		1st round	3rd
2019	Tohoku Soccer League (Div. 1)	5	10	1st	18	15	3	0	82	14	68	48		1st round	3rd
2020	Japan Football League	4	16	7th	15	6	3	6	24	24	0	21		2nd round	Not eligible
2021			17	1st	32	21	8	3	65	28	37	71		1st round
2022	J3 League	3	18	1st	34	23	7	4	72	23	49	76		Did not qualify
2023	J2 League	2	22	18th	42	12	11	19	45	69	-24	47		2nd round
2024			20	9th	38	15	9	14	53	41	12	54	2nd round	3rd round
2025			20	TBD	38								1st round	2nd round

Key

• Pos. = Position in league; P = Games played; W = Games won; D = Games drawn; L = Games lost; F = Goals scored; A = Goals conceded; GD = Goals difference; Pts = Points gained

Honours

Iwaki FC Honours

Honour	No.	Years
Fukushima Prefectural Adult Soccer League Division 3 East Block	1	2015
National Club Team Football Championship Tournament	2	2016, 2017
Fukushima Prefecture Adult Soccer League Division 2	1	2016
Fukushima Prefecture Adult Soccer League Division 1	1	2017
Fukushima Prefectural Football Championship Emperor's Cup Fukushima Prefectural Qualifiers	4	2017, 2018, 2019, 2021
Tohoku Adult Soccer League Division 2 South	1	2018
Tohoku Adult Soccer League Division 1	1	2019
Japanese Regional Football Champions League	1	2019
Japan Football League JFL	1	2021
J3 League	1	2022

Current squad

As of 1 August 2025.^[16]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  JPN Yuki Hayasaka (on loan from Kawasaki Frontale) 2 DF  JPN Yusuke Ishida 3 DF  JPN Ryo Endo (captain) 4 DF  JPN Kazuki Dohana 5 DF  JPN Haruki Shirai (on loan from V-Varen Nagasaki) 6 MF  JPN Kanta Sakagishi 7 MF  JPN Nelson Ishiwatari (on loan from Cerezo Osaka) 8 MF  JPN Sosuke Shibata (on loan from Shonan Bellmare) 11 FW  JPN Keita Buwanika 13 MF  JPN Haruto Murakami 14 MF  JPN Daiki Yamaguchi 15 MF  JPN Naoki Kase 16 FW  JPN Taisei Kato 17 DF  JPN Yuto Yamada 19 MF  JPN Yusuke Onishi 20 MF  JPN Yuma Kato

No. Pos. Nation Player 21 GK  JPN Ryota Matsumoto 22 DF  JPN Jin Ikoma 23 GK  JPN Masato Sasaki (on loan from Kashiwa Reysol) 24 MF  JPN Yuto Yamashita 25 MF  JPN Fumiya Unoki (on loan from Kashiwa Reysol) 26 FW  JPN Iori Sakamoto 27 MF  JPN Atsuki Yamanaka 28 FW  KOR Kim Hyun-woo (on loan from Oita Trinita) 30 MF  JPN Shota Kofie (on loan from Sanfrecce Hiroshima) 32 DF  JPN Sena Igarashi 33 DF  KOR Hyun Woo-bin 34 MF  JPN Ruon Hisanaga DSP 35 DF  JPN Soichiro Fukaminato (on loan from Machida Zelvia) 37 DF  JPN Rintaro Yamauchi 38 FW  JPN Naoki Kumata (on loan from FC Tokyo) 39 GK  KOR Joo Hyun-jin 41 FW  JPN Kanta Tanaka DSP

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 18 FW  JPN Keita Shirawachi (at Azul Claro Numazu) — GK  JPN Shuhei Shikano (at Tochigi SC)

No. Pos. Nation Player — DF  JPN Yuma Tsujioka (at Giravanz Kitakyushu) — FW  JPN Yoshihito Kondo (at Kagoshima United FC)

Club officials

Position	Name
Manager	Yuzo Tamura
Assistant manager	Ryo Kobayashi
First-team coach	Takumi Watanabe
Goalkeeper coach	Jiro Takeda
Sprint coach	Shingo Akimoto
S&C	Tsubasa Hisanaga Kazuhiko Tomooka
Athletic trainer	Atsushi Hokari Tsubasa Hisanaga
Analyst	Yuta Murakami
Doctor	Yoshifumi Fukushima Yoshitomo Saita Nanako Yamamoto
Medical officer	Hidenori Izawa
Physiotherapist	Daiki Iwadate
Trainer	Kodai Harada Shunichiro Saito
Interpreter	Lim Seung-geon

Managerial history

As of 15 June 2023

Manager	Nationality	Tenure
		Start	Finish
Pieter Huistra	Netherlands	13 January 2016	31 December 2016
Yuzo Tamura	Japan	1 February 2017	31 January 2021
Hiromasa Suguri	Japan	1 February 2022	14 June 2023
Yuzo Tamura	Japan	15 June 2023	present

Kit evolution

Home kit - 1st
2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
2022	2023	2024	2025 -

Away kit - 2nd
2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
2022	2023	2024	2025 -

Third / special kits
2023 Limited	2024 Limited